Engine-control mechanism



June 23, 1959 G; H. SHEPHARD ET AL 2,891,526

ENGINE-CONTROL MECHANISM Filed Nov. 22. 1954 s sneetssheenl ttorney June 23, 1959 Q SHEPHARD ETAL 2,891,526

ENGINE-CONTROL MECHANISM Filed Nov. 22, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet..2

lnve nt ors A torney June 23, 1,959 G, H. SHEPHARDl ET AL 2,891,526

ENGINE-CONTROL. MECHANISM Filed Nov. 22, 1954 s sheets-sheet.;

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Attorney Inventors Unite ENGWECONTROL MECHANISM Application November 22, 1954, Serial No. 470,304

10 Claims. (ci. 12s- 99) This invention relates to a speed-control mechanism for an internal-combustion engine and more particularly to a speed-control mechanism including a variable-speed governor.

Among the principal objects of the invention is to provide an engine speed-control mechanism including a variable-speed governor for controlling the operation of a fuel-control mechanism with a single manual control opera'ble in one direction to increase the speed setting of said governor and operable in the opposite direction to actuate the fuel-control mechanism to cut off the fuel supply of the engine. Y

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description with reference to the drawings, in which:

Figure l is a broken sectional view of one form of variable-speed governor to which the invention may be adapted;

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 2--2 of Figure l;

Figure 3 is an elevational view of a portion of the speed-control mechanism as shown in Figure l;

Figure 4 is an elevational view of a portion of the speed-control mechanism as shown in Figure 2; and

Figure 5 is a sectional View taken substantially on the line 5,-5 of Figure 2.

The engine speed-control mechanism is suitably mounted on an internal-combustion engine 8 as shown in broken-line outline in Figure 2. This speed-control mechanism, as shown in Figures l and 2, has a speed-responsive centrifugal governor assembly 9 rotatably mounted in a lower casing member or portion 10; a Speeder-spring governor control assembly 11 contained within a casing member 12 which is mounted on the lower casing portion 10; a fuel-control mechanism 13 partially housed within an upper casing member or portion 14 secured to the engine cylinder head '76 and partially within the cylinder head cover 78; and a linkage 15 and an intermediate tubular casing portion 16 interconnect the operative mechanisms and casings, respectively, of the centrifugal governor assembly 9 and the fuel-control mechanism 13. The various portions of the casing may be formed integrally or may be formed separately, as shown, and suitably secured to one another. It will be noted in the form shown that the intermediate tubular portion 16 is articulated Vwith the upper and lower casing members by resilient O-ring connections. A ange 17 formed on the lower casing member 10 is adapted to be bolted or otherwise secured to the housing of the driving device.

The centrifugal Lgovernor assembly, as best shown in Figure 1, includes a short shaft extension 1S which is secured at4 one end to an engine accessory drive shaft 20 having an laccessory drive gear 21 mounted on the end thereof. A centrifugal weight carrier 22 is mounted on the end face of the gear 21. The centrifugal weight carrier 22 is provided with two pairs of axially extending parallel lugs or support members 24 and 26 carrying pivot pins 2'8 and 30 between them in equidistant spaced rela- States arent 2,891,525- `Patented June 23, 1,959

tion to the shaft extension 18. Centrifugal weights 32 and 34 are pivoted on the pins 28 and 30, respectively, to swing outwardly in response to the rotative speed of the gear 21 which is directly proportional to the speed of the engine. The centrifugal weights 32 and 34 are provided with inwardly extending cam lugs or crank arms 33 and 35 which are in thrust engagement with the end face of a riser sleeve 38 which is slidably carried by the shaft extension 18. The opposite end of the sleeve 38 is provided with an anti-friction thrust bearing 42 which is adapted to engage a forked arm 44 of a bell-crank type operating lever 45. The operating lever 45 is secured to a shaft 46 which is pivotally mounted in the lower casing member 10 by the bearings 47 in normal and spaced relation to the shaft extension 18.

A second arm 48 on the operating lever 45 is in thrust engagement with a plunger 49 reciprocable mounted by a crosshead bearing 50 mounted in the upper portion of the lower casing member 10. The upper end of the plunger 49 is formed to provide a lower spring seat 51 for a Speeder spring 52 within a bore 53 opening on the upper surface of the lower casing member. The Speeder-spring housing 12 is secured to the upper surface of the lower casing member 10 and is provided with a bore 54 coaxial with the bore 53. The upper end of the speeder spring 52 extends within the bore 54 and is adjustably seated in a spring-retaining cap 55 which is slidably mounted in the bone 54. The Speeder spring acting through the plunger 49 and the lever arm 48 tends to bias the operating lever 45 in a fuel-increasing clockwise direction in opposition to the tendency of the riser sleeve to rotate the lever in a counterclockwise fuel-decreasing direction in response to the centrifugal speed-responsive action of the centrifugal weights 32 and 34.

The operating lever 45 has a third lever arm S8 which is pivotally connected by a pin 59 and a spring-retaining clip 60 to the end of the drag link 15 which'serves to interconnect the governor assembly with the fuel-control mechanism 13. The lever arm 58 is also provided with a laterally extending portion 62 which is adapted to abut an adjustable stop screw 64. The screw 64 is threadably mounted in the upper portion of the lower casing member 10 and is provided with a lock nut, as indicated at 65. The purpose of the stop screw 64 is to limit the fuelincreasing clockwise rotation of the lever 45 and, consequently, serves as a maximum fuel stop for the entire control mechanism.

The fuel-control mechanism includes a control shaft which is journaled in the upper housing member 14 by bearings 72 and 74 and which projects into the space between the cylinder head 76 of the engine and the cylinder head cover 78. A lever arm 80 mounted on the end of the shaft 70 contained within the housing member 14 is pivotally connected to the drag link 15 by a pin 82. A second lever 84 mounted on the opposite end of the shaft 7|)y carries a pin 85 which forms a slidable connection with a groove or slot 86 formed in a bracket 87 secured to a fuel-control link 88. The link 88 is in turn pivotally connected, as indicated at 89, to the control arm 90 of a fuel-control device such as a unit fuel injector 91 mounted on the cylinder head. As shown in Figure 5, the lever 84 and the bracket 87, as shown in full lines, are in a full-fuel position and are in a no-fuel position as shown in broken lines.

The manually operable control means for the enginecontrol mechanism includes a throttle-control lever 96 mounted on a shaft 98 projecting through and suitably journaled in the upper portion of the spring housing or casing member 12. The lever 96 has an arm 100 which is adapted to be connected to a control panel throttleoperating mechanism, not shown, and a second v arm 1 02 which is engageable with a fuel-cutoff lever 104 `se-L cured to one leg 106s: of an L-shaped shaft 106 which is rotatably journaled in a cover plate 108 for the upper housing 14. The lever 104 is normally biased in a fullfuel position by a torsion spring 107. A Speeder-spring adjusting lever arm 110 is mounted on the shaft 98 inside the spring housing member 12 and is normally in thrust relation with the spring-retaining cap 55 during normal engine operation. Rotation of the throttle-control lever 96 in a counterclockwise direction causes the lever arm 110 to foreshorten the speeder spring 52 to thereby increase the fuel-increasing biasing effect of the speeder spring and thereby the speed at which the engine is governed up to and including a maximum lgoverned-enginespeed setting, as indicated in broken lines at 110C in Figure l, at which setting the throttle-control lever 96 will be in its wide-open-throttle position indicated in Figure 3. Clockwise rotation of the throttle-control lever relieves the spring-biasing effect and thereby decreases the speed at which the engine is governed until the springretainer cap 55 abuts an idle-speed limit provided by a stop screw 112 adjustably threaded in the upper portion of the housing member 12. The screw 112 is provided with a lock nut 114 and is adjusted to maintain the speeder spring in limited compression thereby setting a minimum engine speed controllable by the operation of the governor. Further clockwise rotation of the lever 96 beyond an engine idle position to an engine olf position, as shown in Figure 3, causes the lever arm 110 to be rotated out of thrust engagement -with the spring-retaining cap 55 to the position indicated in broken lines at 110a in Figure 1. At the same time, a cam surface 103 provided on the end of the lever arm 102 picks up a follower pin 105 mounted in the end of the lever 104 thereby rotating the transverse leg 1065 of the L-shaped shaft 106 in a counterclockwise direction into abutting relation with the pin 82 to overcontrol the governor and carry the fuel-control mechanism 13 to a no-fuel position; the lever arm 102 on the throttle-control lever 96 in conjunction with the lever 104 and the L-shaped shaft 106 forming a pickup mechanism positively rotating the fuel-control shaft to a fuel off position.

While the operation of the engine-control mechanism should be apparent from the foregoing structural description, a detailed description of the operation thereof is given below.

For starting the engine, the throttle-control lever 96 is moved from its off position, as indicated in Figure 3, to slightly past the engine idle position. This moves the cam surface 103 of the lever arm 102 out of contact with the pin 105 on the fuel-cutoff lever permitting the Speeder spring 52, now slightly compressed by the lever arm 110 and acting through the lever 45, the drag link 15, and the control shaft 70, etc., to move the control arm of the fuel-control device 91 to a maximum fuel position. As the engine starts, the centrifugal weights 32 and 34 tend to swing outwardly with increase in speed due to the centrifugal forces acting thereon. These forces are transmitted through the crank arms 33 and 35 to the riser sleeve 38 and in turn to the yoked lever arm 44 on the operating lever 45. This causes the lever 45 to rotate in a counterclockwise direction causing the second arm 48 thereof to compress the Speeder spring 52 while the third arm 58 moves the drag link 15 downwardly to rotate the fuel-control shaft 70 counterclockwise shifting the fuel-control arm toward a reduced-fuel setting of the fuel-supply device 91. The counterclockwise fuelreducing rotation of the lever will continue until an equilibrium has been achieved between the biasing force of the Speeder spring and the centrifugal forces being eX- erted on the tiy weights.

After the engine has been started, further counterclockwise rotation of the throttle-control lever up to and including its maximum speed or wide-open throttle setting, will cause the lever arm 110 to compress the Speeder spring r52 to its position 110e thereby increasing the biasing effect of the Speeder spring 52 tending to rotate operating lever 45 in a fuel-increasing direction. Consequently, the speed at which equilibrium will occur between the biasing effort of the Speeder spring and the speed-responsive centrifugal forces acting on the iiy weights will be increased, and the operation of the centrifugal governor will be such as to hold the engine at a constant speed corresponding to the setting of the throttle-control lever. In like manner, clockwise rotation of the throttle-control lever will tend to decrease the biasing effect of the Speeder spring. The consequent outward movement of the y weights 32 and 34 will rotate the lever 45 in a counterclockwise fuel-decreasing direction thereby decreasing engine speed in accordance with the throttle lever position to a speed at which an equilibrium of the Speeder spring and centrifugal forces applied to the lever 45 is again obtained, as indicated above. Still further counterclockwise rotation of the throttle-control lever past the idle position to the off position, indicated in Figure 3, will cause the cam surface on the lever arm 102 to engage the lpin 105 of lever 104 thereby rotating the shaft 106 to carry the fuel-control shaft through the lever and the pin 82 to a n0- fuel position.

While the foregoing description and figures have been confined to one embodiment, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that numerous modifications may be made Without departing from `the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

l/Ve claim:

l. A speed-control mechanism for an internal combustion engine comprising, in combination, a first housing member adapted to be mounted on the engine, a speed-responsive mechanism mounted within said lirst housing member and adapted to be actuated by the engine, a second housing member adapted to be mounted on the engine in spaced relation to the first housing member, driven means mounted within said second housing and adapted to actuate a fuel control means for the engine, a lever pivotally mounted in said second housing member having an arm thereon adapted upon rotation in one direction to actuate said driven means in a fueldecreasing direction to a fuel cut-oliC position, linkage means independent of said lever and operatively interconnecting said speed-responsive mechanism and said driven means whereby increased speed response of said mechanism biases said driven means in a fuel-decreasing direction, a third housing member mounted at one end on the lirst housing member and terminating at its opposite end adjacent said second housing member, Speeder spring means mounted within said third housing member and biasing said linkage means in a fuelincreasing direction in opposition to the action of said speed-responsive mechanism, said Speeder spring means including a first spring-seating member reciprocably mounted within said one end of the third housing member and having a portion thereof in thrust engagement with a portion of said linkage means, a second springseating member reciprocably mounted in spaced relation to said first spring-seating member within the opposite end of said third housing member, a compression spring interposed between said spring-seating members, a stop limiting the bias-decreasing movement of said second spring-seating member, and a manually operable lever pivotally mounted in the end of said third housing adjacent said second housing member and having a -iirst arm engageable with the second of said spring-seating members whereby the biasing effect of said Speeder spring on said linkage means and thereby the governed engine speed may be varied, said last-mentioned lever having a second arm adapted to engage a second arm of said first-rientioned lever when the rst lever arm of said last-mentioned lever is rotated out of engagement with the second of said spring-seating members thereby causing said first-mentioned lever to rotate in said one direction to actuate said driven means towards its lfuel cut-off position. 4 i

2. -A variable-speed governor for an engine comprising, a housing adapted to be mounted on the engine, a speed-responsive centrifugal mechanism journaled within a rst portion of said housing and adapted to be rotatably driven by the engine, a first lever pivotally mounted within a second portion of said housing and adapted to actuate a fuel supply control means for the engine, a second lever pivotally mounted in said second housing portion and having an arm thereon adapted to engage and rotate said rst lever in a fuel-decreasing direction to a fuel cut-off position, linkage means interconnecting said speed-responsive mechanism and said first lever and said centrifugal mechanism being adapted to bias said linkage means and thereby said first lever in a fuel-decreasing direction in response to increased speed response of said mechanism, Speeder spring means mount-ed within a third portion of said housing extending from said first housing portion and terminating adjacent said second housing portion, said Speeder spring means including a first spring-seating member mounted within the end of the third housing portion adjacent the first housing portion and adapted to be maintained in thrust engagement with an element of said linkage means, a second spring-seating member mounted within the opposite end of said third housing portion in spaced relation to said first spring-seating member, a spring interposed between said spring-seating members and being. adapted through the first spring-seating member to bias said linkage means to actuate said first lever in a fuel-increasing direction in opposition to the increased speed responsive action of said centrifugal mechanism, means limiting the bias-decreasing movement of said second spring-seating member, and a third lever pivotally mounted in said opposite end of the third housing portion, said third lever being adapted through engagement with said second spring-seating members to control the biasing effect of said spring on said linkage means and sad rst lever and thereby of the fuel lcontrolled governed engine speed and being adapted when rotated out of engagement with the second spring-seating member to actuate said second lever to rotate said first lever towards its fuel cut-off position.

`3. In combination with a governor for an internal combustion engine having a speed responsive mechanism adapted to be driven by the engine and operatively connected through 'a linkage means to a mechanism operable to control Vthe fuel supplied to the engine, said speed responsive mechanism tending to bias the linkage means in a fuel decreasing direction in response to increases in engine speed and being operative against a variable speeder spring means biasing said linkage means in a fuel increasing direction in opposition to the speed responsive action of the speed responsive device, and said speeder spring means including a spring, a first movable member seating one end of said spring and engaging a portion of said linkage means, a second movable member mounting the opposite end of said Speeder spring, and a lever operable to shift said second movable member to increase the biasing effect of said Speeder spring on said linkage means and thereby the governed engine speed when rotated in one direction and to decrease the biasing effect of said Speeder spring on said linkage means and thereby the governed engine speed when rotated in the opposite direction: a second lever independent of the operative connection provided through said linkage means and operable thereon upon movement in one direction to actuate said linkage means in a fuel-decreasing direction independently of the action of said speed responsive mechanism, a stop limiting the bias-decreasing movement of said second movable member, and pickup means associated with said levers and adapted to cause said first-mentioned lever to actuate said second lever in said one direction thereby actuating 6 said linkage means in a fuel-decreasing `direction when said first-mentioned lever is rotated in said opposite direction out of engagement with said second movable member. Y

4. In combination with a governor for an internal combustion engine having a speed responsive centrifugal mechanism rotatably mounted within a housing and adapted to be driven by the engine, a control mechanism for varying the fuel supply output of a fuel-delivery device associated with said engine, linkage means operatively interconnecting said speed responsive mechanism and said control mechanism whereby said speed responsive mechanism tends to bias said control mechanism in a fuel-delivery decreasing direction in response tolincreases in engine speed, and Speeder-spring means tending to urge said linkage means in a fuel-increasing direction in opposition to the speed-responsive action of said centrifugal governor, said Speeder-spring means including a spring compressively interposed between two movable members reciprocably mounted within said housing in spaced relation, one of said members having a portion thereof in thrust engagement with a portion of said linkage means, and a manually operable lever having an .arm engageable with the other of said movable members whereby the biasing effect of said Speeder spring on said linkage means and thereby the governed engine speed may be varied: a stop limiting the bias-decreasing movement of said other movable member, a second lever independent of said linkage means and adapted upon movement in one direction to actuate said linkage means in a fuel-decreasing direction to a fuel cut-olf position, and said first-mentioned lever having a second arm operably engaging and actuating said second lever in said one direction when said first lever arm is rotating out of engagement with said other movable member.

5. In combination with a governor for an internalcombustion engine having means operable to controll the fuel supplied to the engine and including a member shiftable between a no fuel position and a full fuel sup'ply position, a means responsive to the speed of the engine and operable to urge said fuel supply controlling member in a fuel supply decreasing direction upon increase in engine speed, resilient means biasing said'fuel-control means in aifuel supply increasing direction in opposition to said speed responsive means, and av second member movable between two operative positions to adjust'the biasing effect of said resilient means in accordance with the desired engine speed between engine idle and maximum speed limits: a third member independent of the operative connection between said fuel-control means and said speed-responsive means and operable upon movement in one direction to engage and shift said fuel supply controlling member toward its no fue position and said second member being adapted upon movement beyond its idle speed establishing operative position to establish a positive connection through said third member to actuate said fuel supply controlling rst member toward its no fuel position.

6. In combination with a governor for an internalcombustion engine having a fuel-control mechanism shiftable between no fuel and full fuel supplying positions, an engine speed-responsive device operably connected to said fuel-control mechanism through linkage means and tending to shift said fuel mechanism in a fueldecreasing direction in response to the increased speedresponsive reaction of said device, and means for biasing said linkage means in a fuel-increasing direction in opposition to said speed-responsive reaction: a first member independent of the operative connection between said device and said biasing means and adapted upon movement in one direction to shift said fuel-control mechanism and said linkage means toward their no fuel positions, and manual-control means including a second member movable in one direction from an intermediate position to increase the biasing eect of said biasing means thereby increasing the speed at which. the engine is governed between idle and maximum engine speed limits and movable in" the opposite direction from said intermediate position to directly engage and actuate said first member to'eshiftsaid fuel-control mechanism to its no fuel position.

7. In combination with an engine speed-control mechanismincluding a driven member movable to regulate fuel supply and thereby the speed of an engine, a means for resiliently biasing said fuel-control member in a fuelincreasing direction, an engine speed-responsive means operatively connectedl to and urging said fuel-control member in a fuel-decreasing direction in opposition to said resilient biasing means, a first lever independent of the operative connection between said speed-responsive means and said biasing means and adapted to actuate 'said fuel-control member in a fuel-decreasing direction, and: a second lever movable between two operative positions to adjust the biasing eiect of said resilient biasing means to vary the governed engine speed and movable. beyond one of said operative posistions to engage said first lever and operable thereon to actuate said fuelcontrol member in a fuel-decreasing direction.

8. A variable speed engine governor including a driven member movable to regulate the supply of fuel to an Iassociated engine and thereby the speed of the engine, a member movable in response to engine speed and operable to bias said fuel supply controlling member in a fuel-decreasing direction in response to increased engine speed, mea-ns biasing said fuel supply controlling member in a fuel-increasing direction in opposition to said speedresponsive member, a lever independent of the operative connection between the fuel supply controlling member and said. speed-responsive member and operable upon movement in one direction to actuate said fuel supply controlling member in a fuel-decreasing direction, and an element movable between two positions to adjust said biasing means and thereby the engine speed response of said `speed responsive member between minimum and maximum speed limits and operable upon movement beyond its minimum speed limit to positively actuate said lever and thereby said fuel supply controlling member in a decreasing fuel direction.

9. .A governor for an internal-combustion engine having means operable to control the fuel supplied to the engine, said governor including a first member shiftable between two extreme fuel supply controlling positions,

- means responsive to the speed of the engine and operable to urge said fuel-control member in a fuel supply decreasing direction in response to increased engine speed,

' resilient means biasing said fuel supply vcontrolling rst member in a fuel-increasing direction invoppositionfto.

said speed responsive means, a second member-movable between .two :operative positions to adjust vsaid resilient means to vary the biasing effect thereof-in accordance with the desired-engine speed between idle and maximum engine speed limits, a third member operable upon mOY- ment in one direction to engage and shift said fuel supply controlling first member to one of said eXtreme fuel supply controlling positions and said second member being adapted upon movement beyond one of said operative positions to establish a positive connection with said third member to actuate said fuel supply controlling iirst member in said one direction towards said one extreme fuel supply controlling position.

10. A governor for internal combustion engine having means operable to control the fuel supplied to the engine,y said governor comprising a member shiftable between a no fuel position and a full fuel supply position,. said member being connectable to the engine fuel supply control means and operable thereon to control the supply of fuel to the engine, means responsive to the speed of the engine and operable to urge said fuel supply controlling member toward its no fuel position upon increased engine speed response of said responsive means, resilient means biasing said fuel control supply controlling member toward its full fuel position in opposition to said speed responsive means, a second member operable between two operative positions to adjust the biasing effect of said resilient means in accordance with the desired governed speed between engine idle and maximum speed limits, a third member independent of the operative connection between said fuel supply controlling member and said speed responsive means and operable .upon movement in one direction to engage and shift said fuel supply controlling member toward its no fuel position, and said second member being adapted upon movement beyond its idle speed establishing operative position to establish a positive connection through said third member to actuate said fuel supply controlling first member toward its no fuel position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,924,228 Bull Aug. ,29, 1933 2,153,125 Thomas Apr. 4, 19,39 2,511,095 Barnes June 13, 1950 2,603,472 Adler July 15,V 1952 

